Neiska

For some of us AFK farming is actually easier now, I don't have to tab in and move so much. Just saying. 😆

@biostem - Yea, at this point it's clear we will never see eye to eye on this. And personally, I no longer care. Just going to put you on ignore because I believe that's best.

Actually, no, it isn't. As I don't have to prove anything, any more than you do. If the burden of proof is on me, then the burden of proof is also on you to prove that without a doubt each and every one who doesn't know basic general knowledge of the game is someone who got power leveled and is not any other case or scenario such as the many I have already listed. Now, I haven't asked that, nor do I expect it, because I think it's ridiculous, just as you are being just as ridiculous in just handwaving away situations that happen. You don't think I never got grief for not hearing a glowie? You can't be serious. Says the one who makes statements about an entire part of the community, with respect, you yourself re being prejudiced sir. And no, we haven't teamed, and I sincerely we never do as I suspect neither of us would enjoy it. I am not saying this to be insulting or suggestive in any manner, I just think our mindsets are too different to make it an enjoyable activity. Or, you know, the reverse is also just as true. Someone with a chip on their shoulder in a rush runs off ahead of everyone else. But your own Anecdotes count as evidence? Sure, the issue is that person. Who is doing something new for the first time, could be young, or inexperienced, or any number of scenarios. And if you have a problem with people learning, then I would think that is a "you" problem. I mean, you want people to know, but when they try, you cite them for it? We really are coming full circle here aren't we? Look. Lets agree to disagree here. You expect everyone to know the location or be willing to find it when joining a team, yes? Fine. Fair. I am just pointing out reasons or scenarios why they wouldn't, any of which are plausible, could be expected in an online multiplayer game and so on. You expect familiarity with core game mechanics, and so on. What if your team member is a toddler, or someone who doesn't speak English, or any number of possibilities? What is basic general knowledge to you, isn't the same for everyone else. And in such case either A. Adjustments can be made, or B. Perhaps that activity is beyond the players current abilities? Will you at least consider that some of these are beyond their ability to control, or that some of them are more than "Power leveled ignorant players" as you insinuate? But this is getting way off topic and personally I don't want it to turn into a debate any more than it already has. I hope we both agree that we have seen too much of that already. You don't want to team with certain people? Fine. Just know that others may not want to team with you in turn, not for lack of abilities or knowledge, because that isn't the only things that make a team good or bad. And those other people for whatever reason are free to not team with you or anyone else, despite whatever "encouragements" are put in place to entice them to do so. Live and let live a little, yes?

If "you" form "your" own team, then fine. Boot people as you see fit, "you" are allowed to do that. But keep in mind others can do that as well. So is someone else is just as free to boot you for being elitist, or for no reason at all aside from "they are the leader"? But don't come here on the forums and complain that there aren't enough people to meet your expectations. You used LFG, a server wide public channel where anyone can join if you let them. And even you as the leader don't set the standard, the team does. "You" don't dictate the "Team's" level of play. Let's say you were the only one on the team to do X difficulty activity before. Is everyone to be on your level, to know the fights and execute it flawlessly? Thats not how people and teaming works. You are expecting people to accumulate to your play, but you don't wish to accumulate to theirs. If you have expectations and the team can't meet them, then either you change your expectations or replace the team. It's really that simple. I didn't project anything. I even made the point of saying I wasn't suggesting you personally. But just to reinforce this, I went through and tried to avoid the word "you" to avoid suggesting my contexts mean you personally. My responses here are contextually, not you personally, but I apologize as it could be seen as such. I shall be more careful in my phrasing. And where is it written that people who have been power leveled or AE don't know things? That is only an assumption. And again, I don't see the game as a race, it's an activity where different kinds of people can enjoy. This is falling back to do or die/succeed and fail examples. What about the case of people who know what they are doing and just sped-leveled an alt? I mean, there isn't that many new players now days, not like there was a few years ago. And this isn't considering things such as another players mental capabilities, or age. What if they are a child? I have read on the forums kids as young as 4 have played. (I don't know if such claims are true or not, only mentioning them for an example.) Personally, I am not surprised that not everyone knows the basic things. Especially in an older game that is free to play, one in which a parent who used to play in their youth might allow their child to do so, unsupervised. Sorry, but I have a hard time believing that accommodations would be made, based on my own experience in the game. In my experience someone says, "hurry up" and if they can't or won't then they are removed. But you are correct, those two aren't mutually exclusive, I am both - I PL and play the AE often. But things such as this are precisely why I don't team often unless there is a particular thing I am after. The "gogogogo," "meta only," or elitist attitudes I find just as vexing as you might find "ignorant" players. First off, If it is so extremely rare, then why make such a fuss of it? Secondly, I want to share something with you. Just last night I was playing one of the new harder difficulties on my crabber. It was my first time, so I went with my super tough build - def capped, 85% res. An uncommon crabby build, but its the best one I am at playing. I don't have perma pets with that build. Now, someone on the team, lets call them the Elitist, noticed and started to tell in team how trash I was, that I was a detriment to the team by not having my crabber pets. Now, since you said your ignorant players are a rare occurrence, I would submit that I encounter elitists more often than you encounter ignorant newbies. Now, my point here is, is that it sounds like some people are expecting everyone else to accumulate to their level, while not accumulating to others, even down if necessary. What if they don't start the team? Or do they just run off, possibly die and go "what the heck, where were my heals" or "fail tank" when the others don't accumulate to their expectations? In closing I would like to highlight that no matter what you do - people such as this will always be encountered, which is one reason why I see the game as a sandbox, not a race. You will encounter people of all kinds before, of different capabilities and skill. So the question really is will you maintain your standards, or change them where necessary?

See, this is where I take issue. Such as expecting/demanding everyone take a travel power or get kicked. That is just straight up dictating or being a Karen. And like it or not, they are also "part" of the team. The team is only as strongest as its weakest link, not the strongest. A team will succeed or fail together. That's what a team is. Now if you want to remove someone from a team, that is a tool everyone has. But it sounds like you might be the sort to also kick someone if they aren't meta, or fully incarnated, or whatever. Like the sorts in WOW to require a higher ilvl than the rewards of the activity they are about to do. Sure, respect everyone's time. But that goes both ways. You have to respect others too, and that includes being patient if they are slow, or learning things, or doing something for the first time. I mean, how else is someone to know without doing it? It seems like you want the fastest, smoothest, activity possible and just don't want to be bothered if someone isn't cutting edge. I mean, what if they are handicapped or deaf? I am deaf myself, and attitudes precisely just like this is why I don't team often. This goes back to my first point - you don't know them. Or what they got going on. What they do or don't know. For all you know they could be playing from a hospital bed one handed, and you go "You are too slow. Goodbye." I mean, I am not trying to suggest you are without compassion or empathy, just trying to make a point here. Unless you form your own core team of people (like a supergroup) I think your expectations are beyond what is reasonable in an open LFG. If you want people to your exact specifications, then you might be less frustrated if you formed your own team of core players from a SG, instead of rolling the dice on what you might get. And how is someone to get to that point if you don't give them a chance to get there? I don't mean to insult but this comes off as an elitist attitude here, in CoH of all places.

Fair, and I suppose it is a different mindset. I see it as people doing their own thing, or for whatever reason not knowing something and asking. And the people who have been playing awhile going "why don't you know that" without knowing anything about the asking person in question at all. Maybe they are a returning player, maybe they are new. Perhaps they simply never used the tram before, or did their own thing/another activity. I don't think of the game as a competition, or race. Its an open world where you can largely go and do as you wish, so not everyone is going to follow the same path of advancement. I mean, I know some pretty strict rp'ers who follow a rigid set of self-imposed rules they follow, like only taking 1 level a week and what have you. I guess my point is, there are all kinds of players. And assuming the worst, or comparing achievements like rewards and powers like it's a contest isn't my viewpoint. I see the game as a sandbox where people create characters. I get your point. Really, I do. You want people to "earn their stripes." And I can respect that. But my point is - This isn't the Army.

Why is that an oversight? If someone chooses to spend every moment of their game time in Atlas, then that's their business? And if they decide to expand from there, then more power to them? I mean, I kind of see people asking as a good thing, no? It means people are trying new things, or maybe learning things? And that's a problem? I mean, you want people to familiarize themselves with the basics, and when they do, people go "why don't you already know?"

Sure, but my point is that not everyone cares to know where the tram is, some might spend their entire time in the pocket D, or the AE, or in their base roleplaying, or whatever. Why the obsession about people not knowing where the tram is, or not teaming, or doing any particular activity in question. What activities people like will generally dictate what knowledge they have in a game. So people don't know where the Tram or Ship is? So what? I imagine there will always be people who don't know where something is.

Fair! Far as that game goes what I loathed was the months of dailies for reputation, and then they considered that "content." 😑

Feel your pain @Snarky, kind of how I am feeling on the MMs that I adore. Did a few of the new 3 star content and so on, and there was purple stuff everywhere, which is more or less insta-death to most pets. Especially during big boss fights, where you can't be spamming resummon pets every 10 seconds. The aggro change didn't affect us much, we had extended aggro already. But the harder difficulties aren't very friendly to MMs, at least the one's I have seen so far.

I have to respectfully disagree. It might not be "your" focus, and that is fine. But please consider the following - 1. First the game is old. It came out in April 2004. That's 18 years old. If the game was a person, it would be old enough to join the military, buy a firearm, or vote. With point that in mind, I think it would be a fair assumption to agree that most people have played the game before, and are not first time new players. Some players have alts. Many, many alts. My self included. I have more than ten level 50s on 3 different accounts, and I intend to make even more. I would argue that "making alts" is just as part of the focus of this game as much as any other part of the game, for which other MMO game offers you 1000 character slots per account? But the main point is, is that most people have played the content before. Some people have played it many times. I mean who goes "Oh WOW it was Dollface the entire time?" on their 30th time playing through the Dr. Graves story arc? For such persons, they are more likely to speed onto whatever activity they enjoy, be it endgame content, or farming, or whatever act is their personal focus, which may or may not include "max level stuff." 2. I would also say that it is a fair guess to say that to people who fully level their character to 50, get it fully kitted out and incarnated, has likely spent more time at 50, than time not at 50. 3. People are able to go back and play other content they missed, either by side-kicking or through Ouro. It isn't a "get it now or miss it forever" proposition. 4. I believe there is more content at 50, than at any other 1-10 benchmark. I could be wrong there, but it certainly feels that way. And this isn't even considering things like accolades and so on. I suppose my point is, that endgame content perhaps isn't "your" focus. And I can respect that. If you want to stop, look around, enjoy the moment and the view, then I wish you all the best in a hobby you enjoy. But others have endgame as their focus, or roleplaying as their focus, or playing the market as their focus, or making alts and trying out new ATs/power combinations as their focus, and so on. And their focus is just as valid as your own. The "real game" begins when you click "create character" and whatever you do after that is entirely up to personal likes and dislikes. There is no "focus" in the game, aside from what players themselves choose. Food for thought.

Here we go again!

Hope I don't loose my fight club membership for this but, from what I gather from the "channels that don't exist", there have been things that are, well, rediscovered, or adapted. And those that know aren't giving details, because then those too will end up here as a "Nerf X thing" topic. I am sure things will get out eventually, but the things I am referring to people are being rather tight lipped on right now. First rule of fight club and all that.

Build looks unfinished, and I wince imagining having to sidekick that one down. 😆But impressive numbers nontheless.

Masterminds sort of already can. Each pet has its own aggro table, plus the original mobs for the MM themselves. Thats kind of how MM farming works, "en masse." Your dps per mob isn't anywhere near a brutes but you fight so much more at a time that it's a moot point. The trick is surviving so many mobs, which not every MM is capable of doing.

Oh, sorry. I never played Mercs. Main MMs are Robots and Demons. I can't speak on Mercs. 😆

Im not sure if I understand your question correctly. For my 3 box robot team I use both upgrades. My farming style is different from most. The only time I use the 2nd upgrade is if I am fighting with group fly on. Most times I don't, but it's an option. Hope that helps?

Huh.. that is interesting as well. I knew you could boost like, the t2 demons resist buffs, or robots def bubbles, but didn't think you could put more unique into them and have them benefit further. Now that has me wondering.

Well, whatever they changed shaved about 30 seconds off my 3 box mm farming team. They come to me more now, so I don't have to waste time chasing them down. Not a terrible amount of time, but it is easier to get big, massive groups now. Have seen a few dead outside the AE though, I mean, moreso than usual.

I run two builds on my SoA. Build 1 - Typical Crabbermind, used for teaming. Full double set of toggles, ranged debuffer/AoE damage. Build 2 - Resistance/Def focused crabber. Has pets but they aren't perma, and aren't focused for pet survivability. This is the build I use for solo +4/8 content, as pets can't survive on that setting. Defense capped, with several resists are at 85%, her lowest being psi which is 60 or so. Quite tanky, especially for a hover character. Awesome to solo with. I swap between the builds as needed, solo or teaming. I can play as a normal crabber with pets and all the toggle buffs, or I can go supercrab mode and be extra tough when I am running my own missions.

Thank you for that. I am not sure what Bopper's formula is. But if I am understanding correctly, this means the Performance Shifter has a 1.4% chance, the Energy Manipulator has a 1.9% chance, the Power Transfer heal and Panacea both have a 2.9% chance? Because I have the Panacea actually slotted now, and it seems to fire pretty regularly, at least once per spawn encounter.

Hello Forums, Recently I had rolled a Demons/Nature alt, and had asked how to best slot Living Spores, for healing or for END since it looks a little wonky in MIDS. Someone in discord pointed out that Panacea + hp/end while having a lower proc chance (18% vs 50%) does give it an area effect, meaning it can then proc on pets and teammates. So I started to tinker with it and wondered what else was possible. You can slot it for a few other proc effects, Preventative Medicine +Aborb, Performance Shifter + END, and Power Transfer + heal self. But I don't know how to calculate the proc chances and all that. So, has anyone tried "proc bombing" Living Spores like this? And do they all affect pets/teammates, or just Panacea? Something like this? It's hard to tell if that will work in MIDS, this is what I get from it - Was just wondering, it's something new I haven't tried before or seen much discussion about. But if it works, it might end up being quite good, especially if it can proc END and more Absorbs on pets. Thoughts? Or does anyone know how to figure out the % to proc on a power like this?

It's a low proc chance, like 15% or something, not sure how to calculate that. But as a bonus it does seem to benefit from the Bloom effect from nature as well. Nothing build-breaking by any means, but still something neat to keep in mind.

Actually @The_Warpact I just found something neat out, that /Nature can slot Living Spores with Panacea +hp/end proc and it will carry over to Pets and Teammates. I do agree that this is likely an exception to the rule, but it does make me wonder if there are others.

I wasn't sure I was going to add to this thread. But after some thought I thought it might help posting why I "don't." These are my own personal reasons, and don't reflect on anyone else. 1. First off, I mainly solo, or play with friends. I do very few random teams, and when I do it's usually something like DFB's. But I never "start" them in any case. 2. I often have to go AFK. I am not 16 any more. I have to respond to emails, chores, or step away for a few minutes for any one of the 1000 of reasons required of an adult. When I am solo I can pause whatever I am doing and take those few moments, and continue on when I can. I prefer to think of this as doing others a favor actually, as someone who has to afk often is more of a detriment on teams than a help. And I would sooner avoid having a "leech" reputation and so on. 3. I am actually deaf IRL. I do have a cochlear implant, but I don't wear it all the time. In fact I prefer not to. This means that I miss a lot of the sounds like glowies or even story narrative during cutscenes. Unless I have time to read then I won't fully understand what is going on. I have done story missions with others that I didn't even know what the plot was, or who even the big bad guy is. When I do team with friends, they understand the situation and most times they explain things or the story before we go in, or someone will tell me if there is info I need to know as we go. But expecting this on random teams I think is unrealistic. I also hasten to add that this is nobody's fault, it's just how it is. 4. Not all teams have been positive experiences. I would say it's been about 50/50. Some teams have been fantastic, but others have been terrible. Again, nobody's fault, it's just how it goes sometimes. I have been called names for not noticing a glowie behind me, or suggested that I am unskilled in rather colorful terms. And while I think that is part of the MMO experience these days, I do want to highlight that teaming isn't all sunshine and rainbows either. People can be offensive, or get political, or bring up any number of other hot topics of discussion. Or for me its how most teams assume everyone has done this 1000 times before, so just speed through as fast as possible. I might get lost, or not understand what the changes in mission are. If I even stop to just admire a map, I might get yelled at. Again, not blaming anyone, or even saying this is normal, only that it happens. And it happens often enough that unless there is a badge or something I want, rolling those dice are a dim prospect for me. I would just sooner wait for my friends or SG to do it, than join a random team, much less try to host something that I have little knowledge or experience doing. And yes, some of the forceful/negative attitude here on the forums does bleed over into the game sometimes. The whole "We do it this way, my way, and no other way. Now GOGOGOGOGO." Again, not always, but it is certainly felt. The basic TLDR on "why not?" for me personally is - either it is cumbersome to do with random strangers, or the risk of it actually being more "unfun" than "fun" makes me rather just do my own thing where I am sure I will enjoy myself. So at least for me, it doesn't matter what carrot you try. The stars pretty much have to align for me to join a random team to begin with. To lead one? You might want to buy a lottery ticket. To put that into perspective, I have quite a few characters over vet level 100. A few over 200. One over 400. And I have never done a spaceship raid, or a Hami, or any of those giant teams that others do. I wouldn't even know what the Spaceship looked like if I was standing in front of it. That's now little I do random teaming. Pretty much the only random teaming I do, is as I said before, random DFBs on a new alt for the badges. That's really just about it, aside from opening my AE farm to other random people, should they choose to join me. And I am not trying to derail the conversation here. I only hope that me explaining the "why not" might illuminate things. But yes it is a case of "lead a horse to water" as mentioned before. To put it simply, I would rather spend an hour in the costume editor, or hanging at the pocket D roleplaying, or going down the ski slope, or tinkering in MIDs, actively farming, passively farming, soloing story content, or any other kind of action possible before doing team-only content. Even more so if its with random people. If I was "forced" to join a team, as in that was the only activity I was allowed to do, and I "had" to do it in order to advance fully on my character, incarnate powers and the like, then I would find another game. Not everyone likes or even enjoys teaming. No matter what the reward might be. For any number of reasons. It's really just that simple.